‘Last year, after ending one of his many spirited on-air arguments with liberal contributor Juan Williams, Hannity pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Williams, according to three sources with knowledge of the incident. He even turned on the laser sight, causing a red dot to bob around on Williams’ body.’

Yes, you read that correctly. Fox News’s Sean Hannity, beloved poster man-child of the far right, pulled a gun on someone who was guesting on his show last October.

Hannity says that he only pulled the gun for “educational purposes.”

His statement to CNN says:

‘While discussing the issue of firearms, I showed my good friend Juan Williams my unloaded firearm in a professional and safe manner for educational purposes only.’

It sounds nice, sure, but think about this.

Since January 1, 2017, there have been 430 accidental shootings, as cataloged by the Gun Violence Archive.

How many of the people behind the trigger in those hundreds of incidents might have cited “educational purposes” as to why they ever had a firearm out in the first place? Undoubtedly, many of them would cite such a thing, because of a very basic principle — guns are potent instruments of destruction. In the right circumstances, it’s easy for something to go from an “educational” gun showing to a crime scene. For example, what if Hannity thought his gun was unloaded — but it really wasn’t?

And yet, “educational purposes” is Hannity’s excuse. He didn’t even try to deny it!

And this is the guy the president so clearly favors as one of his preferred newscasters?

For the record, CNN notes that the incident was brought to the attention of Hannity’s bosses.

A statement on the matter delivered to CNN from Fox News reads:

‘The situation was thoroughly investigated and it was found that no one was put in any danger.’

Okay, again, that sounds great — but the situation could have easily escalated into one that found untold numbers of people suddenly in danger.

Indeed, Hannity says that he’s “well-trained” in firearm safety, and Fox News cites this same thing in their statement on the incident to CNN.

Yet, as a number of Twitter users eloquently point out:

‘If he was as trained w/ firearms as he claims, you know NEVER to point at anyone unless there’s real danger/threat.

‘ALWAYS treat a gun as if its[sic] loaded, “it was unloaded” is a bullshit excuse for mishandling a gun.’

ALWAYS treat a gun as if its loaded, "it was unloaded" is a bullshit excuse for mishandling a gun @seanhannity

So remember, while untold numbers of young people rot in prison for minor drug offenses, this gun-swinging maniac walks around scot free and is one of the main sources of news for millions of Americans.